Fuzzy Breaks pres. Krafty Kuts, JDS & Slyde @ The Metro, Sydney (09/07/05)

Now I must admit it’s been a long time since I last set foot in the Metro. In fact I think the last gig I attended was with Frenzal Rhomb back in my punk days. To be honest I’d forgotten how damn big the place is. In fact with it’s high vaulted ceiling, expansive stage, massive projector screens and industrial rigging adorned with rows of lasers and lights the vibe was leaning more towards the festival side, fitting I suppose as this gig was a quasi replacement for last years Winter Break.

Owing to the fact that the metro closes early (3.00am) and that they couldn’t very well have a headline act starting at 9.00pm, both Slyde and JDS ended up playing at the same time which meant the first few hours of the night were spent frantically running from room to room trying to make sure I didn’t miss anything good.

Slyde managed to lure me to the side room for the first hour or so as they kept the quality coming. Both members of the duo were getting into the act taking advantage of the more intimate feel in the side room. Dropping a mixture of all sorts their sound certainly had more of a funky feel but with so much mixing and mashing that it would be hard to pigeonhole them in a specific genre. These guys were definitely some of the more active DJs I’ve seen, not afraid to scratch, sample and spin their way through all manner of beats and pieces.

Locked grooves, effects, custom samples (they didn’t seem to get sick of “do a little slide”) and acapellas were all a part of the show while they also seemed very competent on the scratch getting right in there and working up the crowd. These two were probably the highlight of the night for me insofar as they were miles better than what I was expecting and I’ll definitely be looking out for them in the future. It was only once they’d gotten into a little hip-hop mash up that I was able to extricate myself from the dancefloor to go and see how JDS was getting along.

There was definitely more of a tech feel going on in the main room and with only one half of JDS and hence only one set of hands behind the decks the mixing was not as exciting as Slyde. Having said this, the crowd was definitely getting into it by this stage, with hot chicks up on boyfriends’ shoulders and the floor packed and wild enough to justify the term moshpit with people jumping around to some heavy dancefloor monsters.

I stayed for a little and then went to check the last minutes (or so I thought) of Slyde, who had most certainly moved into the realm of nuskool breaks now and were finishing of their set in style. The last few songs went off and perhaps fueled by the eager crowd Slyde kept playing until almost 12.50 an extra 20 minutes worth of tunes. After they finished Jonothan Wall got up on the mic and thanked them making sure to mention their Hijack gig next week before James Taylor got up on the decks.

I drifted with most other people back to the main room to see the floor going absolutely mental for Purple Funky Monkey. The closing minutes of JDS’ set were on the money forcing me to doubt my decision to hang around the back room. Epic breakdowns resolving into absolutely killer basslines which, through the dump-truck sized speaker stacks were enough to get stomach acids bubbling and set toilet doors ashaking. Actually I felt the bass was probably a little too much. I know how the dance music crowd love to feel their bodies pulsating in time with the music and all, but too much and everything starts to sound like a big rumbling mess, something which seems to end up happening all too often at big dance parties. 

Regardless the tunes were good and JDS closed with a rousing rendition of Nine Ways which left the crowd cheering and made it clear to Krafty that people were up for some of the heavier shit tonight. Up and about like a good promoter should be Jonothan was up on the stage in a flash thanking JDS and calling on the crowd to cheer Krafty onstage. Dancefloor space was at a premium by now the Metro theatre literally packed to the rafters. Even the stairs and stands were crowded which was made comprehensible when I walked past the side room to find poor James Taylor playing host to a grand total of 4 dancers.

Opening with a scratch and the vocal from Fat Boy Slim’s Funk Soul Brother, Krafty wasted no time getting into it putting his considerable skills on display. Not afraid to pull out the big guns early, the ever popular Stanton Warriors remix of Alter Ego – Rocker followed by Galvanise did plenty to get the crowd in the right mood. Leading on where JDS left off Krafty kept the pace up there with plenty of tricks to keep things interesting. His scratching skills are on par with any hip-hop DJ you might care to mention and he made good use of them, scratching his way through breakdowns and build-ups alike.

Although not accompanied by an MC he essentially made his own with an extensive sample collection. At first I was fooled looking frantically around the stage in search of the man with the mic and then thinking that perhaps it was Krafty himself calling on everybody to say ‘hell yeah’ or ask if we were having a good time. The CD player actually performed the job quite admirably elicitng plenty of response from the crowd although I must admit I lost count of the number of times I heard the words crafty and cuts emanate from the speakers, perhaps this has something to do with why the name is so well known?

By the time the first hour had rolled by I was impressed with the skills but the track selection had been nothing to write home about. This all began to change round 2am when anyone who claims that his sets are ‘boring’ or ‘soft’ would have had to eat their words. Heavier than what I had expected and very good, he started showing me why Krafty Kuts remains possibly the best known name in breakbeat. Atomic Hooligan’s Lust One More got the ball rolling and the intensity didn’t let off until a massive pause. The speakers fell silent to the cheers of the crowd, the ‘MC’ called out “hey Krafty bring that beat back” and the intoxicating intro from Fasten Your Seatbelt was ringing out. This tune seems to be getting pretty big and it’s nice to see some Australian talent get a look in.

I had been expecting a change in pace at some point in the set even if only to allow Krafty to slide in Tricka Technology so that the average punter would be sure of the fact that this was indeed Krafty Kuts. In a masterstroke (when considering that the venue was about to close leaving a few hundred punters gnashing their teeth and eager to keep dancing) he didn’t effect this change until the closing ten minutes with a textbook combo mashup of Drop it Like its Hot (Askillz remix?), Tricka Technology and These Are The Breaks. The crowd refused to move after this and despite the Metro’s fairly harsh closing policy people didn’t stop shouting until Krafty came out and obliged everyone with about 2 minutes worth of a Missy Elliot – Get Your Freak On mash.

All up another great Fuzzy event, which despite the slightly smaller venue, 3.00am finish and almost non-existence of promotion still managed to sell out and feel just like one of the big festival events. My hat goes off to Mr Wall and the gang and all I can do now is wait and drool over the Parklife line-up which they made sure was pasted over every available surface at the Metro.